MacBook Pro 14 rumored to be pushed back to 2021

When Apple updated the MacBook Pro 13 in early May 2020, it dashed the hopes of anyone who was expecting to see a revamped MacBook Pro 14 this spring. Now, it looks like we may have to wait until 2021 for Apple to overhaul its smaller pro-level laptop with the same sort of features it added to the MacBook Pro 16.

The news that the MacBook Pro 14 may not come out this year comes from Twitter leaker L0vetodream, and was spotted by MacRumors. It stated on May 11 that the MacBook Pro 14 would not make an appearance until 2021. The exact, cryptic tweet read: “in my dream MBP14 next year.”

Ever since Apple replaced the MacBook Pro 15 with the MacBook Pro 16, it has been widely expected to give the same treatment to its smallest MacBook Pro. The MacBook Pro 16 came with a new Magic Keyboard, an overhauled cooling system, vastly improved speakers, thinner display bezels, and perhaps even ARM processors.

While the MacBook Pro 13 now uses the Magic Keyboard, it has not yet been updated to get the rest of these features. That is what we are expecting to see in the MacBook Pro 14. We were extremely impressed with the MacBook Pro 16, calling it “the best Mac in years.” If Apple can replicate these features when it releases the MacBook Pro 14, the MacBook Pro lineup will likely be in its healthiest state in quite some time.

L0vetodream has a decent track record when it comes to Apple predictions. The account predicted Apple would launch the iPhone SE in three storage capacities (correct) and in the second week of April (incorrect, but only by one day). They also projected the latest iPad Pro to launch in the third week of March, which it did.

Well-known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, meanwhile, has argued the MacBook Pro 14 will launch either in late 2020 or early 2021, so a release date at some point next year was always a possibility. He also stated that it was unlikely to be delayed by the coronavirus pandemic in any meaningful way. If Kuo’s 2021 date is correct, it would line up nicely with L0vetodream’s tweet.

As with anything related to Apple predictions, accurately gauging what the famously secretive tech giant is up to is notoriously difficult. Given the ongoing global pandemic, a MacBook Pro 14 launch in 2021 seems more probable than one in 2020.